Marshall Women Fall In OT At UAB

Woody Woodrum

01/14/2008

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. - UAB outscored Marshall 21-6 in overtime to take a 79-64 win over the Thundering Herd women's basketball team at Bartow Arena on Saturday night.
Marshall (10-6, 2-1 C-USA) would make a late charge in regulation to send the game to the extra period, however, UAB (7-9, 3-0 C-USA) would dominate in overtime to take the win.

Casey Baker led the Herd with 18 points while grabbing six rebounds and notching two steals. Kizzy Hart and Meg Withrow finished with 15 and 14 points, respectively. UAB had 39-33 halftime lead. The Blazers would see its lead grow to double digits to open the second half, 48-38, just over three minutes in, and later 51-39 just a minute later. The Herd refused to give up, going on a 7-0 run, including five straight by Casey Baker.

A shot by Diamond Rogers gave UAB a 58-51 lead with 5:33 remaining, but from there Marshall would fight back, holding the Blazers without a point for the remainder of regulation. Down 58-53 with under two minutes remaining, Hart would connect on two free throws to cut the lead to three, then after a free throw by Handy, Hart would make two more to knot the game at 58 with 51 seconds remaining.

On the next possession, Withrow would steal the ball from Amanda Peterson and hit Hart, who was fouled on the attempt but missed the free throws. UAB had one last shot, but a three by Peterson fell short and sent the game into overtime. In the extra period, the Blazers went on a 10-0 run to open. A three by Withrow cut the lead to seven, but UAB would connect on late free throws to take the 79-64 win.

Alyssa Hammond fell just short of a double-double, finishing with nine rebounds and eight boards. Tynikki Crook was also solid, grabbing seven rebounds and scoring five. Conference USA leading scorer Diamond Rogers led the Blazers with 20 points and 12 rebounds. UAB finished the game with a 54-51 advantage on the glass.

Chantelle Handy recorded her first career double-double. with 10 points and a career-best 13 rebounds, in the Herd's win at Memphis. . photo from MU/HerdZone.com

In game one of the road trip, sophomore Chantelle Handy recorded the first double-double of her career as the women's basketball team downed Memphis, 61-47, in Conference USA action Wednesday night at Elma Roan Fieldhouse. Handy scored ten points while grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds in the win. Hart led the Thundering Herd with 14 points and seven rebounds while Crook finished with 13 points.

Memphis (3-12, 0-2 C-USA) would not go away, holding Marshall without a point for almost five minutes while closing the first half lead to five, 24-19. A lay-up by Handy ended the drought, but a shot by LaToya Bullard with eight seconds remaining in the half cut the halftime lead to four, 29-25. A re-energized Herd came out in the second half scoring 14 of the first 16 points in the half to open up a 43-27 lead just over six minutes into the half. Casey Baker got things going, scoring the first eight points of the half, hitting two shots and going 4-of-5 from the line.

The Tigers would get as close as ten with six minutes left after a three by Jessica Hall, but Marshall's defense would keep Memphis scoreless over the next four minutes and escape with the 14-point win. Baker rounded out Marshall's double-digit scorers, finishing with 12. She also had six rebounds and six assists. Despite not scoring a point, senior Melody Hudson had a strong game, contributing five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Freshman Rebecca Bays connected on two late free throws to notch her first points as a member of the Thundering Herd.

Following its first conference road swing of the season, Marshall will return home for two conference games next weekend. On Friday, Jan. 18, the Herd will play host to Tulsa at 7 p.m. before facing SMU at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 21, with both games at the Cam Henderson Center.

Marshall's men's and women's teams will then travel to the State Capitol city of Charleston to face the Mountaineer team's of WVU in the annual Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic at the Civic Center. The women's game at 5:30 p.m. is on a statewide broadcast to public television stations and also can be heard on WRVC 930 AM, while the men's game will tip at 8 p.m. and be seen on a statewide network of West Virginia Media stations and on the Thundering Herd/ISP Sports Network including 93.7 FM, The Dawg, and ESPN 930 AM, WRVC on the network's flagship stations.